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Any RME ADI-2 DAC FS owners here?

Hej

I’m looking for a DAC for my headphone set up and have read some good reviews on the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. RME makes gear for professionals and that worries me because then the risk is that it sounds cold, analytic and dry. How about RME ADI-2 DAC FS?
Anyone that have had this DAC for a while?

I was quite pleased with my old Audiolab 8200CD, but it died when I unfortunately was led to push the ”self destruction button”. After more than a month trying to get help from Audiolab and their distributor here in Sweden I have understood that they don’t care about after sales service. So I have to buy a new DAC and a transport.  
simna
vineman55
16 posts
 
I have had one for a bit and it's not cold/dry but transparent.  If I play bad recordings then I get a bad result, good recordings get good results, etc as one should expect.  For the money, it's quite nice in my opinion.

nekoaudio's avatar
nekoaudio
489 posts
 
The RME ADI-2 is an excellent AKM449X implementation, and for that sound it can certainly compete with some more expensive DACs. You may find it a little cold, analytical, and dry, but that really depends on your own subjective calibration point. Others won't perceive it that way, and there are other DACs that are even more so in that direction on the spectrum.

Whether or not the headphone output itself is powerful enough to bring out the best of your headphones will depend on the headphones you're using, but it is quite capable.

The biggest downside is the relatively complex UI and customization options. Most consumer DACs and headphone amplifiers have a few choices and a volume knob. The ADI-2 has a whole lot of settings and a bit of a complex interface; you could easily (mis)configure something and not know it or have a hard time undoing it.
simna OP
165 posts
 
@vineman55
You wrote that you had it for a while. Why didn’t you keep it and what did you replace it whith?

@nekoaudio 
I’m not afraid of all the options. On the contrary, they are one of the reason I’m curious of the DAC.
But maybe it’s not a DAC for me being a ”tube guy”. My amp, my headphone amp, my other DAC and my RIAA uses tubes. But with tubes both in the DAC and in the headphone amp makes the sound a little veiled. At least with my gear.
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